Chapter 107
107
~Lira’s POV
I kept running until my legs felt like they were going to give up on me. My chest burned, my breath came in sharp, painful gasps, and the world around me blurred like I was underwater. I didn’t know how long I ran for. It could have been minutes or hours. All I knew was that I needed to get away. I needed space to breathe, to think.
When I finally reached a tunnel, dark and quiet and half-forgotten by the world, I ducked inside and pressed my back against the cold concrete wall. The air felt damp, like old secrets were trapped there. I slid down until I was sitting on the ground, hugging my knees, trying to catch my breath.
My body was shaking. Not just from running. From fear. From rage. From everything piling up inside me like it had no place else to go.
“I escaped,” I whispered to myself. “I actually escaped p>
It didn’t feel like victory. It felt like surviving the first hit in a fight that wasn’t close to finished.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and forced myself to breathe slowly. In. Out. In. Out. But the panic didn’t go away. It stayed in my chest like a trapped bird, beating its wings against my ribs.
Then my phone rang.
The sound cut through the silence like a knife. I flinched. For a second, I thought it was them calling, the men in black. Or Alpha Darlon. Or someone who wanted to drag me back.
I almost didn’t pick up. I almost threw the phone against the wall and walked away from everything. But when I saw the caller ID, my stomach dropped.
Father.
Alpha Rowan.
I stared at the screen for a moment, then I dragged the answer button with a shaky thumb.
“Lira!” he shouted before I could say anything. His voice exploded through the speaker, full of anger and exhaustion. “What have you done? Do you understand the mess you have caused? I told you to stay away from Elara. I told you to leave her alone p>
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see it. “I did what I had to do,” I said. My voice was shaky, but I tried to make it sound strong. “I am not going to sit back and watch that girl take my life. My place. I am not sorry, and I don’t regret anything p>
“You should be!” his voice cracked with frustration. “You should regret it. Look at you now. Running. Hiding. Like a criminal. Is this what you wanted for yourself p>
My eyes burned, but I refused to cry. “What I wanted,” I said slowly, “was the life that was supposed to be mine. What I wanted was Alpha Darlon. What I wanted was to be Luna. And she took it. She stole everything p>
There was silence on the line. Long, heavy, and full of disappointment.
When he finally spoke again, his voice was lower, tired. “Listen to me. If Alpha Darlon catches you, I cannot save you. Even I don’t have that power. You need to be smarter than this. You need to stop before you make everything worse p>
I laughed, but it came out sharp and broken. “It’s already worse! I have nothing left to lose p>
“Lira,” he said, and his voice shook in a way I wasn’t used to. “Please. Do not do anything foolish. I will try to speak with them. I will beg if I have to. I will talk to Elara and Alpha Darlon. Maybe there is still a chance to fix this p>
I could feel my anger rising again. “Fix this? The only way to fix this is to remove her. For good. Then I can have my place back p>
“No,” he snapped. “You will not touch her. Do you understand me? Whatever madness you are planning, stop it now. Stop before it destroys you p>
I didn’t answer.
I think he knew that silence meant something dangerous.
He tried again, his tone heavy. “Lira, I am begging you as your father. Please. Come home. Turn yourself in. Accept whatever punishment comes. It is better than being hunted p>
For a second, it felt like the world paused. I could hear traffic somewhere above the tunnel, just a faint hum. I could hear my own heartbeat, loud in my ears. And then something in his voice cracked, like he finally realized how far gone I was.
“No,” he whispered suddenly, almost to himself. “Don’t come home. Not like this. If you come back now, Alpha Darlon will take you. I can’t stop them. I can’t protect you. It’s too late p>
I swallowed hard. My throat hurt like the words I wanted to say were cutting it from the inside. “I can’t come home,” I whispered. “Not yet. Not until I get back everything I lost p>
“You haven’t lost it,” he said. “You threw it away with your choices p>
That stung. More than I expected.
I pushed the pain away and forced my voice to stay steady. “If you want me to survive out here, then I need money. I can’t stay in the open. I need to move. I need to eat. I need a place that’s safe enough to think p>
His sigh came through the phone, long and defeated. “I will send what I can. But it ends there. Do not drag this out any longer p>
I nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Fine. Just send it. I’ll keep myself alive p>
“Lira,” he said again. “Promise me you won’t do anything reckless p>
I closed my eyes. For a second, I imagined saying yes. I imagined meaning it.
But the image of Elara beside Alpha Darlon pushed into my mind, and all softness disappeared.
“I can’t promise that,” I whispered.
He cursed under his breath. “You are going to destroy yourself p>
“Maybe,” I said, voice flat. “But not before I destroy her first p>
The silence that followed felt like the end of something. Like a door closing. Like a bridge burning behind me.
My father finally spoke one more time. “I love you. Even now. But I can’t protect you if you won’t protect yourself p>
I hesitated. “You don’t need to protect me. I will take what’s mine with my own hands p>
Then I hung up.
The call ended, but it didn’t feel like just a click on a screen. It felt like something was breaking. Like a last thread snapping. I lowered the phone from my ear and stared at it, my hand trembling a little, even though I refused to admit it. His words kept echoing in my head.
You are going to destroy yourself.
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was already on that path. Maybe I was too deep in the fire to turn around. But part of me refused to believe it. Part of me still held on to the idea that all of this would be worth it in the end. That losing, running, hiding, fighting, plotting… it would lead to something. It had to. Otherwise, what was I doing?
The tunnel air felt colder now. I pulled my hood tighter around my face and let out a shaky breath. My father’s voice still lingered, softer at the end than I expected. “I love you.” It should have softened me. It should have made me feel something like guilt or sadness, or regret.
But instead, it made me angry.
If he loved me, why didn’t he fight harder for me? Why didn’t he stand in front of Elara and tell the world I was the one meant to be Luna? Why did he let everything slip away so easily? Why was I the only one fighting for what I believed was mine?
I pressed my palm against the cold ground beside me, grounding myself. My voice came out low, almost like I was warning the air around me.
“I will take what’s mine. I don’t care what it costs. I won’t live in the shadow of someone who stole my life p>